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Remember the thrill when discovering one of your favorite bands would release a new album?  I still have it.  This year we expect a new Tool album and very shortly one from Soen, my go to prog rock/metal band of the last two years. Great was my surprise that before you can even order the new Soen album, all songs are pre-released on Spotify and Deezer…  kind of a buzzkill because, off course, you’ll go an have a listen.  And with that you lose part of the magic of opening a CD for the first time (after spending way too long trying to unwrap it without breaking the jewel case).  I just love going through the first few listenings of the album with a booklet in hand, reading the lyrics, checking on who produced it, where it was recorded… I don’t have many rituals in my life, but this is surely one.  And one I have no intentions of stopping. Soen - Lotus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLSh0E0Rikc Out on vinyl & cd on February 1st 2019

Sometimes music is just beautiful and doesn’t need words. Enjoy this when you are relaxed and in front of a very good sound system.  A lounge chair, whiskey and purring cat on lap are optional. Zefiro Torna* - Balsam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3QQsgEIJ1s *Refers to a sonnet by Petrarca. It means “west wind” and derives from the greek god Zephyros, on of the four seasonal wind gods.

It is getting harder to discover music nowadays. There is just too much going on one hand and on the other hand you have a limited number of channels controlling what everybody hears.  So this is where I come in. Consider this a form of syndicated information or a redacted music channel,whatever. Meet Alex Meets Sand, a slightly better band name than “Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs”, I kid you not ( https://pigspigspigspigspigspigspigs.bandcamp.com/ ). Alex Monk is a musician and producer based in London. Monk draws on influences from the 60s and 70s acid folk movement combined with a curiosity to experiment with ambient music, found sound and electronics. His work has been compared to everything from Brian Eno and John Balance to Robert Wyatt and Islaja. His latest album is an ideal soundscape during work or as the album cover suggests the perfect accompaniment to daydreaming.  Nothing you would expect that I would listen to, but that is to be expected by now, no? Alex Me

A couple of months ago I met Tom de Geeter in my favorite coffee bar De Dingen.  He had trouble getting attention for his Youtube series on CGI Buffalo , a half-man half-buffalo cartoon who runs a Jazz show where he interviews real artists but always answers with Jazz facts or Jazz related questions (voice done by the US rapper Mike Ladd).  It is an interesting fun 5 minutes of kind of nonsense, kind of funny stuff. Anything which is absurd is OK in my book so I bought a first edition of his first three comic books in the CGI Buffalo series .  Next to his graphic design company, he also is a producer and runs Marathon of Dope, a music label for Indie music, rap and electronic music.  He played in various bands and has toured the world as well. Today’s song is from the album Tony’s Truck by his band Zucchini Driver. This song which somehow reminds me of El VY’s debut album and therefore I kinda like it! Zucchini Drive - In September To make sure you’ll never forget El VY here’